General: Bali

Advantages: An idylic island paradise
Disadvantages: Check with the foreign office for travel recommendations due to terriorist threats

I was extremely lucky to have visited Bali, Indonesia in June 2005, before the second bombings took place. To have occurred once was horrendous, killing and maiming all those people but for a second time - what has this island paradise and beautiful and gentle people done to deserve this? I don't want to dwell too much on this incident l want to extol to you (hopefully doing it some justice) the majestic beauty and peaceful tranquillity of this small ...
...will have to connect through one of the more major hubs whether it is Singapore or Bangkok. We flew out of Manchester with Singapore Airlines checking our baggage all the way through to Denpsar in Bali (DPS is the airport code). Flights connecting through Singapore and with a stop over in Singapore on the way home cost less than £600 STG which was excellent value. Expect to travel for practically 24 hours - we had to leave from Belfast therefore ... Read review

Advantages: Hot, sunny, cheap food and a local KFC!!
Disadvantages: Dirty, not nice beaches and the sea was too rough!

As you can tell by the title Bali was not my ideal holiday - do apologise to anyone that loves it! Bali was part of a three centre holiday that included Bangkok and Hong Kong in October 2001. Bangkok was for the first three nights, Hong Kong for the last two nights and Bali was the nine nights in the middle. The flight to Bangkok was around 12 hours then another flight of about 6 hours to get to Bali, we landed in Denpasar which is the capital of ...
...that was about an hour away. When we got to Bali we were taken to Grand Bali Beach in Sanur, the reception was very impressive, lots of marble and escalators being the focal attraction, surrounded with lush greenery. We were given our room keys and found we were staying in one of the garden view rooms, these we like little chalets that were similar to Butlins! The trip was in aid of my birthday, I got into the room and instantly took a major disliking ... Read review

Advantages: See opinion
Disadvantages: See opinion

On Saturday October 12th 2002 just after 11pm a small bomb exploded in Paddy’s Bar on Legian Street in Kuta, Bali. This was shortly followed by a huge explosion that came from a car parked across the street outside the Sari Club. Both Paddy’s Bar and the Sari Club were full of young people; travellers, tourists, surfers, honeymooners, ex-pats, bar staff, doormen, prostitutes, DJs. A mix of people from all over the world and from all walks ...
...dance, mingle and enjoy themselves. Both bombs killed people outright, and then fires started. Most buildings in Bali are made mainly of wood, these were no exception, the fires spread rapidly, and the buildings collapsed trapping hundreds of people. The lucky ones managed to escape, over 400 were injured, a huge part of Kuta was destroyed and the death toll was nearly 200. When the bomb went off I was on a Royal Brunei flight to London that had ... Read review

Advantages: sunny weather, not too humid, friendly people, beautiful landscape, good value for money
Disadvantages: too commercialised, aggressive vendors, dirty beaches

Bali - everyone's idea of paradise? Well, certainly ours which is why we chose to go there for our honeymoon last month. Perhaps our expectations were set too high or perhaps we have been fortunate to have seen many other beautiful places for we found Bali to be a great disappointment. Harsh words? So to be fair let's list the good points; sunny weather, not too humid, friendly people, beautiful landscape, good value for money due to the currency ...
...its own private pool, tropical gardens and five friendly staff who looked after our every need. Our last two nights were spent in a five star hotel in the hills surrounded by paddy fields. Sounds idyllic? Well in a way it was. So what went wrong? Well what spoilt it for us, was the fact that it is very commercialised; the locals have to rely so heavily on the tourists and only seem to see you for the money that you might have in your pocket. You ... Read review

Advantages: Sun, Heat, Surf, Cheap, Clean and Safe
Disadvantages: Long distance flight, Expensive flight

I went to Bali in September 1999 with my girlfriend and spent three weeks travelling the island. After a long 25 hour flight, the moment we stepped off the plane we knew that we were in Paradise. From the runway that disappears into the sea built on a coral reef, the surrounding beaches and palm trees to the hot evening air and beautiful sunset that greeted our arrival, my first impression was that this would probably be a summer well spent. First ...
...Kuta. The advantage is that it is 5 minutes into Kuta where all the mightlife is but it is possible to have a quiet night too. Also, it has some of the best surfing beaches on the island. Australians spend there summer vacations here so it can be like the Aussie Tenerife/Ibiza. The hotel was booked over the internet and saved us about 40% on the cost. The standard of hotel was exceptional. Booked through the net a 4 star hotel cost us about $10US. ... Read review